A Wonderful World Needs A Wonderful Familiar
by DemonsxLolis
Summary: Bell Cranel is a 16 year old boy with a rather peculiar situation: he owns a familiar that is more than double his current level, and this is all because of his own doing. Attending Orario High, follow as our duo plunges into danger, explores dungeons, forms bonds with their classmates and even perform casual exorcisms. Nothing is off the books for these two! (Rated M for Monsters)
1. Chapter 1

_Somewhere in the Dothraki Dungeon…_

"Hey, Ton-Ton, think we should be wrapping this up soon? I'm starting to get pretty hungry, and today is the last day of break. School is tomorrow y'know."

Walking away from a room of dead dire wolves is a young man with white hair and red eyes, holding a blood-stained black sword. His expression is not of one who had just been in battle, but rather one who had just been on a light stroll. Despite being so beautiful, certain features on his face allude to him being around the age of sixteen.

"You're asking me!? You're the one who came out here in the dead of night saying we should kill some monsters! I was lying on the couch peacefully before you showed up with your bright noggin!" Says a voice, rather feminine but more akin to that of a small child.

"Well, that may be true but I personally don't know when to stop. I still got plenty of energy left to spare!" The boy says with a grin.

"THEN WE SHOULD'VE HEADED HOME AN HOUR AGO BELL!" Screams the voice.

Visibly flinching at the yelling, Bell laughs and smiles uncomfortably.

"W-well then, lets head back I guess."

Upon saying that, the black sword he had been holding transforms into a tuxedo cat with red eyes and a star on the top of its head. It quickly jumps onto Bell's shoulders and lies down. The two begin to walk down a dark stone corridor.

"About time, I was getting sick of touching those filthy dogs! I can't believe you even let one of them slobber all over me!"

"Sorry, but I'd prefer if I didn't get teeth sunk into me."

"Puh-LEASE! As if some wimpy things like that could get through your defenses. You were just trying to look cool again so you can brag about how you never get hit!"

"…That cuts deeper than expected. You already know I don't have friends." Bell says with a dramatic tear running down his face.

The two appear to approach the end of the corridor, as what looks like a portal lies at the end of it. Not hesitating to walk through it, the two find themselves transported to the middle of a field, a stone arch behind them with the same portal inside it. Off in the distance there is lights shining over the canopy of trees.

"Back to Orario it is, hopefully the convenience store is still open; I still haven't gone shopping yet." Bell says thoughtfully.

"Of course you haven't, you're too busy killing wolves that are leagues below your level. You do realize even middle schoolers could take those things on, right?"

"I only needed a little bit more xp, and I wasn't in the mood to fight something strong. It's been a long day for me too y'know. Also, I was figuring you would be feeling better after we stopped, but you are sure in a pissy mood right now."

"…Well, yeah, I'm sorry. I just want to go home already, It's been awhile since I've gotten a day off, and I was really hoping today was the day." Ton-ton says while sulking.

"Ahh, so that's what it is. Alright then, tomorrow can be a real day off. It's the first day of second year, after all."

* * *

Back in Orario, the two see skyscrapers looming above them, cars whizzing past and pedestrians walking to who knows where. Merchants line the streets shouting out offers and purchase inquiries, and buyers stumble between the merchants looking for whatever interests them. Bell ignores these and heads to a less populated convenience store, looking to browse their noodle selection.

"What do you think, Ton-ton, spicy noodles or teriyaki mushroom?"

"Considering none of those sound edible to a cat, I'd prefer the spicy one so you can burn that stupid question right out of your mouth."

"Y'know what, that's fair." He says with a sigh.

Walking up to the counter with noodles in hand, he sets both the noodles and the exact change required down on the surface. The clerk scans it, and sniffs the air dramatically, contorting his face in disgust.

"Lemme guess, dire wolves?" He says with a smirk.

"I knew I smelled like shit." Bell says sadly.

"Have a good night, and come again!"

After leaving the store, the two walk through the city and end up in front of a dimly lit apartment complex. Pulling out his keys, Bell fumbles with the lock and opens the door, with Ton-ton jumping off of his shoulder quickly and sprinting to the couch.

"Finally! My sweet bed, I've missed you!" The cat says happily.

"Just stay there, we gotta level you up after I put these noodles on the stove."

"Again? You just leveled me up two days ago."

After a brief period of running water and gas igniting, Bell returns, slips off his shoes near the door and sits down next to Ton-ton. The cat in turn lies down flat, and Bell's hand is placed gently onto its back, a magic rune glowing on his hand. Suddenly, a status screen appears in front of them, and Bell begins scrolling through the settings.

"Let's see, we got around 70,000 xp from that session and you need 46,000 more to level up. Guess I finally get some progress after a few weeks." Bell says with a laugh.

_*Note, Bell likes to keep his xp values distributed in flat values to match the max requirements, so he doesn't have to calculate as much. This results in him never using every bit of xp he's gotten in a given day._

**Status**

Name: Hecatoncheires

Race: Familiar, Weapon

Affinity: Shadow & Fire

Level: 99

XP: 154,000/200,000

Magic Conductivity: 6472

Strength: 5247

Health: 14672

Mana: 16834

Stamina: 3211

Defense: 16374

**Skills**

Metallic Transformation

Telepathic Communication (Master Only)

Hecatoncheires sighs and asks, "Why are you leveling me up so much? You're only level 49, and I'm about to hit 100."

"Well, call it a investment, but it started after you hit 25, 50 and then 75. Each time you went through a higher level spirit contract, you got shockingly stronger in your weapon form. That mana conductivity stat is what I'm really looking at. Sure, my magic won't necessarily get stronger because of you, but it makes my usage with you a lot more efficient. Kinda important for someone like me, where my magic capacity is absolute garbage." Bell says while smiling.

The settings Bell chose were to transfer xp gained from master to familiar, and Ton-ton glows accordingly. After a few minutes, Bell is greeted with a pop-up, stating level 100 was successful and an additional message.

"There it is, _Advanced Spirit Contract Available_. Just in time too, because I have absolutely no clue how to activate that. Good thing we have a prestigious school with that knowledge locked away somewhere, right?"

"You're gonna start focusing on yourself now, right? It feels a little weird being more than double the level of your master."

"Yeah, yeah, but at least now I won't have any worries about you getting broken."

"..What the hell kind of monsters are you thinking about fighting if you're gonna worry about ME getting broken before you get broken yourself!?"

"I'm just being careful! I rely on you quite a bit, no way in hell do I want my partner in crime to suddenly turn to dust because of some wacko with tons of magic power!"

The two argue for a time longer, before they are eventually seduced into the warmth of sleep.

-Chapter 1 End-

_In this world, levels are pretty straightforward, and xp gain is also semi-straightforward. More details will be released as time goes on regarding monsters and their strength, however levels and their xp requirements are as follows: The next level you will obtain times 2000 is the amount of xp required to level up. This is why to reach level 100, Hecatoncheires needed 200,000 xp._

_As for how xp gains work, it varies depending on how strong the enemy is you are facing. Generally, if a person fights a monster the same level as them, they will get exactly 100 xp points per kill, and this is regardless of enemy level. For each additional level deviation, the xp gain will go up by 50 points for every level advantage the enemy has over the person. This means a level 5 person fighting a level 10 monster will get 350 xp points per kill as opposed to 100._

_For every level disadvantage the enemy has over the person, the xp gain will go down by 20 points, meaning an enemy will yield no experience points if they are 5 levels lower than the person._

_For Bell and others in his situation, should the level difference between master and familiar be greater than 5, all experience given to the familiar will be divided by the level difference. This means in Bell's case, all of the xp he gained was divided by 50 once he fed it to Hecatoncheires. This is also why Hecatoncheires was annoyed with Bell for feeding it so much. More to be uncovered later!_


	2. Chapter 2

Magic crystals: A staple of the economy in the world in which Orario resides, the frontier for any aspiring adventurer seeking to make a name for themselves. Without them, the inhabitants couldn't enjoy such luxuries like cars, air conditioning, high-functioning irrigation, etc. Dropping from even the most common monsters, these crystals of pure mana essentially dictate the price of just about everything that is sold, and without them, adventurers would be hard-pressed to make a consistent living. It is for this exact reason, that Bell Cranel is currently staring at his empty wallet the morning of his first day of school, and also why his stomach is currently rumbling in hunger.

"If only I didn't have that stupid skill…" He says with a sour face.

The skill in question is ironically named _Lucky Drops_. While this skill increases the drop rate of all rare and extra items from monsters to a guaranteed 2% rate per kill, they unfortunately prevent any magic crystals from dropping should he be the one to land the killing blow. This does, of course, also apply to his familiar.

"We gotta find another job soon, otherwise we're not gonna have anything to eat. Even if it's uncomfortable, I can live off your mana, but you need food to replenish that mana." Ton-ton says.

"You're right. Man, this is such a pain! C'mon, no sense in waiting here any longer. Let's stop by some message boards on our way to school."

As Bell stoops down to pick up his bag from nearby the door, Ton-ton jumps onto his shoulders in its usual position. Sporting a white dress-shirt, a brown suit jacket with the Orario High logo on it, which is a circle with a lightning bolt and a hammer in a cross, black dress pants, and finally his black dress shoes, Bell is now ready to start his day. The two leave the house, making sure to lock the door behind them.

Starting down the street, Bell takes a deep breath and pats Ton-ton on the head. "So, think anything interesting is gonna happen today?"

"Depends on what you mean by interesting. I know you're not the type to go without food all day, so it does strike my interest on how you plan to beg for food if we can't find a job."

"You think that little of me!? I meant interesting as in people we might meet. It's my second year starting today, and I'm gonna see if I can't land in the top branch this year." Bell says.

"Hoh-hoh? Not that I doubt your abilities in the slightest, but that's pretty bold for someone with such a small magic capacity. Don't you think some of the more… entitled individuals will be a bit salty when you show up?"

"What's bold is you trying to trash talk someone who is not only half your level, but is also currently your master. Talk to me again when you're not depending on me for food. But that is a good point about the entitled individuals, I didn't think about that part."

"Damn, wasn't expecting such a sharp remark from you. I must be rubbing off on you. Hey look, there's a message board right here."

The two stop for a second, browsing the papers pinned up. Bell scratches his head. "Let's see… someone's looking for an enchanter, and… holy shit is that an assassination quest? Who would post something like that in public!? Also a male escort… yeah I think we're done here."

Slightly red from the thought of being an escort, the two continue on their way.

"Couldn't you have done that enchanting one? Sounds like pretty easy money to me, after all you like all that magicky stuff." Ton-ton says thoughtfully.

"Correction, I like alchemy, which while it does involve a lot of magicky stuff, its mostly just chemicals and ratios. I can do basic enchantments like making a rock that will explode if someone grabs it, but as far as any of the high-quality stuff like increasing one's speed as soon as it rains, that's a no-go." He says while shaking his hand.

"Huh, didn't know you were so useless. I guess I did think too highly of you."

"Again, isn't that a little too harsh towards your master?"

"I think of you more like a pet than anything. Look, another message board."

Stopping once again, Bell dramatically twirls and bends forward, looking at the message board intently. Ton-ton shrieks out in discomfort.

"Hey! Warn me if you're gonna do that! You're gonna make me sick!"

Bell simply pats it on the head and points at a paper on the board. "Enough of the whining, I knew that dramatic twirl would give us good luck. Look at this, someone is looking for an exorcist. This could be some pretty easy money, a whole 20,000 valis! That's good enough for at least 3 months of groceries!" Bell says with a smile and a glint in his eyes.

"Whoa, that is good! But wait, aren't you forgetting rent? And also all of our bills… I think we're due soon…"

Dramatic tears come to Bell's eyes upon hearing this. "Then… that'd leave us with 2,000 valis… which is only good enough for two weeks if we're careful…"

Tearing off the paper, Bell pulls out his phone and punching in the numbers shown on the paper. It rings for a few moments before the other end picks up.

"_Um… hello? Who is this?"_ Says a man, he sounds to be middle-aged.

"Heeeeeellooooo! This is Cranel Exorcisms, at your service! We have a strict, no fail policy or your money back! We received your post regarding an exorcism, what seems to be the issue!?" Bell says energetically.

"_Oh, how wonderful! You see, lately every time I've been going to the bathroom, I've been hearing whispers from within my walls. At first I thought it was just the neighbors, but around three days ago, I experienced the first poltergeist. I-I've never been so scared in my life… my lights burnt out, my toilet shattered and toothpaste was sprayed all over the bathroom. Please, if there's anything you can do, please exorcise this spirit that's terrorizing me!"_

"Sounds like a pretty rough situation you got there. Unfortunately, I won't be able to see you until later today, around 5 PM. I have other affairs I need to get sorted out before then, could I have your address?" He says as he pulls out a pen and places the paper back against the wall.

"_Yes, of course! It's 765 Labyrinth Ave. Whenever you can make it over, if you please. I'll be staying at a friend's place in the meantime."_

"Very good, sir! I shall see you then! Buh-bye!" He says with a grin, hanging up the phone. "Success! Looks like we got ourselves a job, Ton-ton! I'm hyped up and ready for school now!"

Upon saying that, he pockets his pen, shoves the paper into his school bag and skips the rest of the way to school.

* * *

"Please make your way to the examination area! It will be in the gym on the right side of campus!" Yells a woman standing at the front gate of Orario High.

As Bell approaches the gates, he looks around at the students filing through the front from the streets, and sees many more coming from further down. "Man, there sure is a lot of students. Sometimes I forget that this school is basically six mashed together into one. Impressive to think one guy is responsible for all of it."

"I know right… Hey, I'm gonna rest in your soul for a bit, I don't wanna get swept away by this sea of people. Bring me out again when it's more calm." Ton-ton says as it begins to dematerialize.

"Sure thing, partner!"

Following the woman's instructions, Bell heads to the gymnasium. Once inside, he is funneled through a crowd of people into a separate room for the observation. The one conducting it appears to be a middle-aged man with black, swept-back hair and glasses.

"Alright, first things first, we are going to be doing a quick fitness test. This year, we are going to require you complete up to two-hundred pushups, a quick five kilometer jog and a weight test to see how much you can lift. Please proceed how you wish." The man says, placing his pen to his clipboard as he sits down.

"Yes sir!" Bell says, taking off his jacket and shirt, setting the articles of clothing off to the side, revealing a very toned physique beneath.

The examiner takes note of this, expecting him to pass the pushups and run with ease. Bell gets to work right away, powering through the first ten, then twenty, fifty, all the way to the full two-hundred. Next, he hops onto the treadmill, and shocks the instructor with a full sprint at nearly fifty kilometers an hour.

"Hey, you're not allowed to use magic for this examination you know!" He says sternly.

"I'm not using magic sir, I simply train very hard to compensate." Bell says while breathing steadily.

Completing the run in an amazing six minutes, Bell is now showing signs of exhaustion, but seems to still be able to do a bit more. Walking over to the weights, he places four-hundred fifty kilos on either end of a barbell, places both hands on it and takes a deep breath. After a quick, six second strain, Bell lifts the barbell above his head and drops it soon after, exhaling heavily afterwards.

"Highly impressive, I must give you full-marks for your demonstration here. Next is a test on your knowledge. Here is a quick test that will take around thirty minutes to complete, it will quiz you on things like alchemy, language, enchanting, etc. Please do your best."

Bell takes a seat in front of the desk, not putting on his shirt just yet to cool off. He picks up the pen supplied and begins jotting stuff down. To no surprise, when he makes it to the enchanting section, he is stumped on nearly half of the questions. After completing it in twenty-three minutes, he hands it back to the examiner.

"Full marks in alchemy, full marks in language, full marks on the questions you answered for enchanting, and full marks for everything else. You're quite well-rounded, might I inquire why you don't know more about enchanting than what appears to be just the basics?" The examiner says quizzically.

"I… may or may not be unable to read runes…" Bell says sheepishly.

"Really? Then you shouldn't be able to do enchanting at all, but you appear to know the basics almost by heart."

"I spent a LOT of time on that to be honest, and while I'm being honest, I technically don't understand what its saying at all. I more or less wing it based on the effects and simple memorization."

The examiner laughs heartily. "Well, no harm in trying your best. Next will be a magic conductivity test. Simply place your hand on this crystal and pour your magic into it. We'll see how well you can control magic."

Presented in front of him is a rather large, green magic crystal wired to a machine that likely reads out a rating. Placing his hand on it, it begins to grow brighter until its almost blinding to look at.

"Ho-hoh, very extraordinary! I don't think I've seen anyone with this kind of conductivity before! I'm starting to think things might be too good to be true, what is your flaw!?" He says with a smile.

Bell merely grimaces at that statement, muttering under his breath. "This next test should illustrate that quite nicely…"

The examiner quickly writes down the results, then flips the page. "Now, if you please, pull up your status menu and we will jot down your stats real quick."

Clearing his throat and placing his hand onto his chest, his hand begins to glow and the status screen pops up.

**Status**

Name: Bell Cranel

Race: Human

Affinity: None

Level: 49

XP: 5,000/98,000

Magic Conductivity: 21457

Strength: 7234

Health: 8673

Mana: 4456

Stamina: 18656

Agility: 8432

Defense: 5341

Charisma: 0

Willpower: 36325

**Skills**

Enhanced Senses

Alchemical Mastery

Telepathic Communication (Familiar Only)

Lucky Drops

Bluff

To say the least, the examiner was rather shocked when seeing Bell's stats. One the one hand, he was surprised to see the absurd values for Willpower, Stamina, and Magic Conductivity as well as the very high values for Agility and Strength, but he was rather stumped on the unbelievably low value for Mana.

"I see… so you got an insane amount of control but basically no resources to use. Based on your level, a mid-tier would have around double that value, and a high-tier nearly quadruple that. Other than that, the rest looks stellar. This is going to be a close call for me, but I should be able to make a decision after this quick questionnaire about which nearby dungeons you've completed. I will need to hook up a lie to detector to you for accurate placement purposes, of course, however there will be no inherent penalty for lying. Just make my life easier and don't lie, please."

Bell nods and holds out his arm. The examiner brings out a machine and ties an armband around Bell's arm, which connects to said machine that is now whirring with magical power. Bell picks up his pencil and starts marking down the list.

Goblin Den (Level 1-3): Complete

Kobold Mine (Level 2-5): Complete

Dark Forest (Level 4-15): Complete

Labyrinth (Level 13-27) Complete

Hallowed Woods (Level 29-40) Complete

Dothraki Dungeon (Level 38-57) Complete

Mech City (Level 62-77) Incomplete

Angel's Peak (Level 56-78) Incomplete

Draconia's Lair (Level 69-87) Incomplete

After Bell quickly writes down all of the marks, the examiner nods, as the lie detector did not go off. "Alright, my decision is made. Based on this, you clearly deserve to be placed in the top branch. However, please do be careful. Most of the nobles end up going to that branch, and they have a tendency to possess a superiority complex. You might have the stuff needed, but your easily detectable, low-capacity Mana might cause some discontent. Please head to Class 1-C, your teacher will be Hestia. Have a great day!" The examiner says, holding out his hand for a handshake.

Bell returns the gesture, and reclothes himself, then carries his things out the door. Once away from the bustling gymnasium, he summons Ton-ton. "Well, I ended up trying my best. Looks like I got placed in the top branch after all!"

Ton-ton yawns and stretches on his shoulders, digging its claws into his neck. "Sounds good, let me know when your funeral is."

"Gahh! Don't say something like that when you're stabbing me, you stupid cat!"

And thus, the school day begins for our duo.

-Chapter 2 End-

_A lot to go through this chapter! For a little more insight on stats to put Bell into perspective at this point (obviously don't need to go over mana again), a standard level 49 will have around 3000 strength, 6000 stamina, 4500 defense, 4000 agility, and 6000 health. This means he is well above the average mark and well into the high tier mark for most of the stats. The ranking is pretty simple: low tier is half that of the average, mid tier is the average, and high tier is twice that of the average. Anything higher than that is still considered high tier, but people just gush about it more. As for the absurdity of Bell's stats, you can generally guess that his Magic Conductivity is quite insane already after comparing it to Hecatoncheires, but for adventurers the average at 49 is 4900! Willpower as a stat is something entirely unrelated to levels, however, and the average for each person is about 5000. Let's just say that at 5000 Willpower, your average person will be willing to risk their life for no less than saving a close friend. Higher Willpower can be resultant of other desires, but a person with that high of Willpower may or may not be willing to fist fight a lion for a loaf of bread. The world may never know…_

_As for the size of Orario High, it's positively massive! No doubt you've probably been curious about the "branches" bit, and it was slightly brushed over in the story. Each branch is essentially its own school, but they're all built and connected right next to each-other. This is because Orario itself is such a massive and popular city, and there's just too many of each rank to fit into one school, but the teachings of Orario High simply can't be beat. As a result, the branches are split into the High-Tier Branches, which are Branch 1 and 2, the Mid-Tier Branches, which are Branches 3 and 4, and the Low-Tier Branches, which are Branches 5 and 6. Each of these branches don't inter-compete, due to the power differences, however the branches that fall under the same tier undergo regular competitions for sport. More specifically, each of the branches has its own class of students, which as a whole is more or less a Familia, as it will later be called. This means, per usual, Bell will be joining the Hestia Familia! But there's going to be my own little twist on that in the next chapter…_

_More information for later, if you have any questions feel free to drop a comment, and I'll answer with more information or a "wait for more later"._


	3. Chapter 3

Standing in front of them is Class 1-C, but Bell seems to be highly hesitant to enter. Rather, the reason for his hesitance is due to the situation unfolding in front of him.

"Hey… have you ever seen a guy that buff before?" Bell says with his jaw dropped.

"No, but they look like they're hairless gorillas" says Ton-ton, with widened eyes.

In front of them, there appears to be a body contest going on. Among them are two very tall men, one with long, wavy black hair and light skin and another with short, brown hair and dark skin with a scar across his chest. Both nearly nude. Both with muscles that could probably make themselves breakfast. Bell has a sneaking suspicion that they might've been the ones who started this.

"HOW'S THIS, GOOD CHAPS!?" The black haired one says as he does an Olympian pose. A round of applause is heard from the audience.

"Ugh, do you guys have to do that up front right now? I can practically smell the steroids" says a short Pallum girl with brown hair.

"Are you not entertained young lady!? We simply wish to get to know you all in the most intimate way possible! Half-nude and glistening with sweat!" Says the brown haired man.

"What even… did you even hear yourself just now? That was clearly perverted! Just put some clothes on! We've had enough of the sweat glistening!"

A tall, gray haired Werewolf without a white undershirt walks up and pats the young girl on the head. "C'mon! The guys are only havin fun! No sense in stoppin somethin so lively this early in the mornin, am I right!?" He says while bursting with laughter.

"You're absolutely right Bete! We can't let this chance pass up, not before I've taken pictures of all of the right angles!" Says a blonde girl with gold eyes. Her face looks rather emotionless, but based on the glint in her eyes, Bell can tell she's got something going on in that brain of hers. "Why don't you get up there too… I'd definitely like more… subjects." She says while breathing heavily and pointing the camera at the Werewolf.

"Wha? Hell no! I ain't gonna agree with some perv like you requestin me! Gimme that camera!" He says as he lunges his hand forward.

"No way, I have so much good material on here now, I even managed to sneak up on this white-haired kid while he was taking his exam! I'll stop so please don't take my camera!" She says after dropping to her knees and bowing.

Unsure as to what to do, the Werewolf stands there uncomfortably. "Uh… right. Guess it would be rude to take away ya camera… sorry."

Unfortunately for the Werewolf, he fell right into her trap. "Chance…" she mutters under her breath. Using wind magic to enhance herself, as well as to blow his jacket open, the blonde girl stands up suddenly and takes a surprise picture, getting a full shot of the Werewolf's chest and surprised expression. Feeling a vein pop in his head, the Werewolf screams in anger and punches downward. The blonde girl easily dodges it, however his fist crashes into the floor and smashes the floorboards.

"DO YOU WANNA DIE BITCH!?"

Without a second to spare, the Werewolf and the girl get into a fight of cat and mouse respectively, if the mouse was a certain devious trickster and the cat an unfortunate simpleton. Bell simply stands near the entrance with sweat running down his temple.

"Hey, you gonna go in and stop them, Mr. Hero?" Teases Ton-ton.

Bell shakes his head dramatically. "No-no, they're clearly just playing around, I'd prefer to sit right here. They'd probably kill me."

"Also did you hear what that girl said? I might've been resting but I know everything your body does. Think she might've been stalking you?"

"I hope not… I really want this year to be normal…"

"Then why the hell did you join the top branch!?" Shouts Ton-ton

"….Cause I thought it'd be cool…"

A voice suddenly comes from behind. "Well, you're certainly right about it being cool! But what's going on in there is totally uncool! Step aside, mama has to teach these younguns a lesson!" Bell turns around to be met with an empty space. At least until he looks down to see a strikingly short woman with black hair tied in twintails, a white lab coat over a black shirt and blue shorts, and flip flops. To him, she looks like a goddess, but that's quickly put to rest the moment he feels her blood lust as she walks past him.

"WELL THEN!" She yells as she dramatically half closes the door, and then slams it back open. "Looks like you kids don't understand the meaning of restraint, and now we have to hold class outside, because SOME IDIOTS DECIDED TO BREAK THE FLOORS!"

Her commanding presence immediately stops the fight and everyone inside straightens their stance, even Bell, whom is currently standing outside the classroom.

"All of you, outside, now! If any of you are not there in the next 3 minutes, I will personally kick your ass out of class! Hop to it, get a move on!" She shouts with a disgusted look on her face.

"YES MA'AM!" The class shouts in unison.

Bell, not wasting any time to say 'yes ma'am', is currently booking it down the hall. "Holy shit that lady was scary! How could something so cute and small hold so much rage!?" He says with a dramatic tear forming at his eyes. Ton-ton, in full agreement is currently hiding in Bell's bag.

"I-I-I thought you had n-n-nerves of steel B-Bell… Why so scared!?" Ton-ton manages to squeak out.

"She's worse than a monster! I can kill monsters, and I can deal with a sword in my stomach! I get the feeling she would probably make me do something horrible as punishment, like eating raisins!"

The two make it safely to the courtyard, and despite nobody being around, Bell stands straight as an arrow, hoping to not make that woman any angrier. "On top of that, she probably has the authority to do so. I'm pretty sure that she's my teacher."

Shortly after, the rest of the class files in line, with the blonde girl from earlier standing next to him. Despite wanting to take a better look at his potential stalker, he can't help but keep his undivided attention forward as the black haired woman walks out to greet them.

"Well, well! Looks like you idiots do have a semblance of common-sense after all! Let it be known now that if any of you decide to bust up the classroom like that again, I will personally put your ass on a skewer and serve you roasted to Cerberus, our lovely Head of Security who absolutely LOVES delinquents. Do I make myself clear!?" She shouts with a smile.

"YES MA'AM!"

Suddenly changing her expression to that of a beautiful goddess once more, she opts to speak more sweetly this time. "Good good! Now then, I think some introductions are in order. My name is Hestia, and starting today I will be your teacher! Also, for any of you who wish to start things up again, let it be known that I am level 165. So please be nice to your fellow students, and let's get some of you up here as well. Let's start with you sweetie, at the end of the line over there. Come up front and introduce yourself, then file to the right if the line."

From Bell's left, he can see a stunningly beautiful girl with long black hair tied into a ponytail and soft blue eyes. She looks extraordinarily calm despite the rage previously displayed by Hestia. "Hello, my name is Aria Lockheart, a human, age 16, and I'm level 56, it's nice to meet you!" She says with a polite bow. As she walks out from the front, Bell can't help but keep his eyes on her, and because of this he catches a glimpse of her expression right before she reaches the line. She exhales quickly and has a horrified look on her face, seemingly muttering to herself.

'_So she clearly has social anxiety. Not like I can't relate though.'_ Bell thinks to himself.

Next up is the Werewolf from earlier. His name is Bete Loga, age 17 and level 58. He quickly apologizes at the behest of Hestia, and looks clearly shaken once leaving.

After him is the two strong-men who are now wearing white dress shirts that are barely big enough to cover them. The first one up is the black haired one. "The name is Ceasar Sylad. I am aged 18, a human and currently level 58, it's a pleasure to meet you fine chaps!"

From the line, Bell can hear a snicker, and he immediately knows what is going to come next.

'_That poor soul just signed his own death warrant!'_ He thinks to himself horrified.

"Hey, do you think I can get some of that? I'm pretty hungry right now, didn't know there was a giant salad right in fron-" He didn't get to finish that sentence as Hestia threw a piece of chalk directly at his forehead. Thrown back far enough for Bell to see who it was, he sees that is a red-haired man with a scarf around his neck. He looks like he's completely knocked out.

"Well then! Considering a certain idiot didn't heed my request earlier, I guess I'll introduce him since he won't be getting up anytime soon. That's Welf Crozzo, human, age 17 and level 54. Please let him rest a bit so he can think about his life choices. Next!" She says with a deathly sweet expression.

The brown-haired man walks up to the front, and surprisingly begins to move around dramatically. "I believe we have already met, however for you I will introduce myself once more! The name is Hercule Sylad! I am currently level 58, like my brother over here, and I am aged 19! It is truly a pleasure!" He says as he flexes and bursts the buttons on his shirt. One of them flies directly inbetween Bell's eyes, to which he doesn't flinch simply out of sheer disbelief.

Hestia claps at this display with a smile and shoos him offstage. Next after him is the small Pallum girl that Bell saw earlier. "Yo, I'm Liliruca Arde, age 16 and level 51, pleased to meetcha" She says with a deadpan face as she quickly tries to head off stage. Hestia reaches out and stops her by grabbing her head, lifting her up and placing her back in the center.

"Now, now, that's a rather rude way to address your classmates. Why don't you be a bit more friendly to the people who will likely be watching your back from now on?" Hestia says with a death-glare.

Rather than a deadpan, her face is now more akin to fear. "Y-yes ma'am! My name is Liliruca Arde, a Pallum, age 16 and level 51. It's a great pleasure to meet you! Please take care of me!"

This time as she tries to hurry off stage, Hestia does not stop her.

Strolling up to the front this time is a lime-green haired elf with sky blue eyes and a deadpan expression much like Liliruca, however her presentation is far better. "Good afternoon, my name is Ryuu Lion, an elf, aged 21. My level is 62, it is a pleasure to meet you all."

Next up is a human girl with grey hair and grey eyes. "Hiya! My name is Syr Flova! I'm a human aged 16, and my level is 52! I hope you treat me well!" She says sweetly.

Bell has no doubt that she was aiming to bewitch the guys in class, however it appeared to have little effect. Except on the woman standing next to him, who gasped in awe and is now taking copious amounts of pictures.

Speaking of her, she appears to be next, and Bell is finally given a chance to get a good look at her. She is without a doubt beautiful, however her deadpan face and mischievous glint in her golden eyes is surprisingly unnerving. Especially when she's breathing heavily. "It's a wonderful experience to meet you all, my name is Ais Wallenstein and I'm 16. I'm a human and I'm level 64 and my hobby is taking pictures of beautiful people, no matter where they might hide. Oops, that sounded kinda creepy. I'm sorry, I know I have a problem and it's a bit rough for me to deal with, but I cannot deny my passion! Please, feel free to expose your bodies to me as much as you want!" She says with her face entirely red, her eyes starting to look a little crazy.

Hestia pats her on the back with a smile and shoos her offstage.

'_She was… interesting. Can't say I especially like her hobby but at least I know she's not just a pervert.'_ Bell thinks to himself as he walks up to the stage. _'Crap though, I don't speak in front of this many people very often. And I really don't want to screw up with this demon loli behind me. What should I say!?_

Now standing in front of his class, he can see all of the faces of the people who were just introduced as well as a few unfamiliar faces, and can't help but notice the amount of girls in the class. Swallowing dryly and sweating nervously, Bell does a 90-degree bow. "N-n-nice to meet you! My name is B-Bell Cranium, I'm sexteen years old, level 49 and I'm a horman. Please be my lovers!"

'_SON OF A BITCH! DAMMIT BELL!'_ He thinks to himself horrified. His face turns entirely red and rather than trying to salvage the situation, he walks to the end of the line. Or rather, that's what his plan was, before the back of his jacket was stopped by his overzealous teacher.

"Now, now, I don't believe you told us your real name. Say it clearly this time so we can hear?" She says happily.

"BELL CRANEL! NICE TO MEET YOU!" He says desperately, running to the back of the line afterwards. Gasping for breath, Bell can't help but feel lightheaded, however a pat on the back soothes his mind slightly.

"Thank you, Bell! I didn't realize how kind you were! To screw up so badly for my sake after I spoke too much on stage, it really put my heart at ease!" Says Ais with stars in her eyes.

"N-no problem." Bell says softly, clearly mortified.

After Bell are two Amazoness women, seemingly sisters. The first one up is the smaller of the two, however she appears to be much more energetic than her sister. "Hi-hi! I'm Tiona Hiryute! I'm an Amazoness and I'm 17! I'm level 59, let's all have fun together!" She says while pumping her fist in the air. Quick to follow is her much curvier sister. "Yo, it's nice to meet you all! My name is Tione Hiryute, the older sister of who you just met. I'm 17 as well though, and I'm level 60. Let's kill lots of monsters together!" She says as she punches her first into her hand.

Following her is the end of the line, thus concluding the introduction of Class 1-C.

'_How am I gonna ever live this embarrassing introduction down!?'_ Bell says as he falls to his knees.

-Chapter 3 End-

_A little more depth to Bell's character this chapter. I was initially going to include Asfi and Riveria into the class, but what can I say, they're older and more commanding so they'd fit better as teachers. Due to the format I'm going with for the rest of the teachers at Orario High, however, I'm going to have to leave Asfi and Riveria for characters that have already graduated and are full-time adventurers now instead! As for Finn and some of the rest, more to be revealed later. _

_Aside from that, this was a much needed introduction chapter which doesn't have too terribly much going into it besides establishing the characters, so I tried to add as much comedy as I could and introduced as much of their character quirks as necessary to spice up the reading! Let me know what you think :^)._


	4. Chapter 4

After the introduction, Hestia proceeded to go on a mandatory introduction to the course over the next year. After receiving all of the class dungeon results, the dungeon the class will start off with clearing will be the Dothraki Dungeon, with Mech City being the main course of the class once the stragglers are caught up. Aside from the practical experience, she will go over enchantment on Mondays and Fridays, Alchemy on Tuesdays and Thursdays, Magic Theory on Wednesdays, Physical Fitness all throughout the week, and finally additional lectures on the weekends should they be requested by the students.

After the class was released for the day, Bell found himself confused as to the rest of the time spent in class. "Um, excuse me, Miss Hestia?"

"Yes, what can I do for you Bell?" She says after taking a deep breath.

"Um, sorry, but… what are we going to do for the rest of the day after we finish our lessons each day? Unless the lessons are like 10 hours long?"

"Hah? What kind of question is that? Of course I'm not holding a 10 hour lesson, are you crazy? This must be your first time in the top branch. Look, I'm gonna level with you. Anyone who makes it into the top branch doesn't need an educator anymore aside from what I just listed, and it's easier on all of us if it's on different days to make sure you guys can still go to school at the same time as everyone else. Aside from that, we're more or less advisors for you guys as you aim to get stronger and clear through the dungeons. You're basically full-fledged adventurers now, just not in name. Now, will that be all?"

"Y-yeah. Sorry for wasting your time, ma'am." He says meekly.

Hestia takes a deep sigh and rubs her temples. "You're killing me, kid. You don't gotta act like such a wuss around me. Come with me, I wanna have a chat."

"A-alright."

After a short walk, Bell finds himself in what appears to be Hestia's office. It's a small space, with a few trophies on the shelves, some cutesy stuffed animals and a single white stuffed bunny on her desk.

"So, you got a familiar, right? What's its name?" She says casually, opening the curtains and plopping down into her seat.

"Hecatoncheires."

Almost as soon as he says that, Ton-ton in a puff of shadow teleports from his bag onto the top of the desk and begins licking its paw.

"Hoh! It's a kitty! How cute! Bell, you're now my favorite!" She says as she oozes over Ton-ton's cuteness while reaching forward to pet it.

"Huh? Just like that? Just because I have a cat familiar?"

'_What the hell is this lady's problem!? Does she have a personality disorder or something!? It's seriously throwing me off!'_ He thinks to himself, sweat running down his temple.

"Well, not like being my favorite will get you anything special. With both a familiar and stats like yours, I'm almost wanting to wonder why you're acting so scared all the time… but then I see your Charisma stat…" She says as she pulls out a paper dramatically. "Seriously, what's the deal with that? I don't think I've ever seen anyone with a Charisma stat of 0. How do you even function?"

"She's got you there bud. I'm surprised you can even talk to the convenience store clerk as much as you do~" Ton-ton teases.

"Shut it cat! Nobody asked you!" Bell says with a blush.

Hestia looks on in disbelief and sighs. "Well, that's pretty disturbing. Hey, Bell, you do realize that when you talk to Hecatoncheires without telepathy, it makes you look like you're talking to yourself right? If I didn't know about your skills, that would be severely creepy. Hell, it's still creepy."

Bell's jaw drops and his face turns bright red. "I-I did not think about that…"

"Look, the reason I brought you here is to tell you that you gotta get that Charisma stat up, even if just a little. Now, I didn't see any skills on your status that is preventing you from raising it, so it's something solely mental that's preventing you from raising that naturally. It's almost as if you're convinced that it's impossible to converse with people. Then again…somehow you manage. Hmm, I wonder." She says thoughtfully. "Anyway, you're free for now. I don't have much else to say to you other than try to converse with your classmates a bit more. There's a ton of weirdos this year, so nobody can really judge you harshly without being a hypocrite."

"Yes ma'am."

With that said, Bell gets up and leaves the office, with Ton-ton jumping onto his shoulders soon after.

"Well, that was a complete shit show. Glad to know you're really raising the bar there Bell!" Ton-ton says with a laugh.

"I'm too hungry to deal with this crap right now, Ton-ton. Let's just get our free lunch and head over to the job…"

"…Is what I said, but what the hell is this bullshit!?" Bell screams as he looks at the public notice in the cafeteria.

_Unfortunately, due to a free lunch cut from the government, we are unable to provide the normal lunch that we've served in the past. The only items available are a granola bar and a small milk each person. We apologize for the inconvenience._

On the verge of tears, Bell walks up to the food bar and grabs his free food, thinking of ways he could possibly get something more. _'I could always ask some of the other students here if they could grab a free lunch they didn't want and give it to me. Yeah, that way I could get more than one granola bar and hopefully hold out until we get paid later today. But…what if they just laugh at me? What if instead of being kind and sweet, they just say 'get lost you poor turd from a barely functioning peasant-class family who should really just sell his body already to some weird pervert just for a loaf of bread'! I don't think I can handle that kind of pressure; this is the top branch after-all. Everyone here is either a noble or makes enough wages from magic crystals already to never have to worry about food ever again. They can all eat like kings! Man! Why did I have to be cursed with this stupid skill!?'_

Deciding to give up and accept his fate, Bell and Hecatoncheires leave the cafeteria and start on their walk to the subway station.

"I don't think I've ever seen someone freak out that much about a granola bar before."

"SHUT IT!" Bell yells, but not before taking a bite from his granola bar.

* * *

Bell and his companion arrive in front of a rather run-down apartment with a few decorative plants out front. Standing in front of it appears to be a rather old looking man, around the age of 60 with a cane and glasses. He's balding, with a little tuft still left on the back of his head.

"Excuse me, are you Mr. Hagazaki?" Bell asks with his hands in his pockets. Having taken off his school jacket and replacing it with a black one, he now looks much more responsible. This might also have to do with the fact that he doesn't seem to be cowering in fear. The old man turns around and nods.

"Yes, and I take it you are Mr. Cranel? I give you my thanks for coming earlier than expected; I cannot wait to be rid of this apparition!" He says while shaking Bell's hand.

"Well, first things first, what can you tell me about the ghost? Also the history of the apartment, like if there's been any deaths, dark rituals, etc."

"As you know, the poltergeist happened when I was in my bathroom. At first, I simply thought it was an earthquake, but now I know different. The only thing I know on the matter is that the woman who previously lived here was murdered!"

Bell scratches his head and nods. "I'm going to go take a look inside then. You can stay out here for the time being, I'll be out in a jiffy!"

As Bell shoots a thumbs up and a grin, he walks into the apartment building, Ton-ton jumping off his shoulders soon after.

"Whaddya think? Angry woman who wants revenge on her murderer? I'm pretty sure there's something up with that old guy!" Says Ton-ton.

Bell looks around the apartment carefully, shaking his head in the process. "You're jumping way over the gun there, think about it logically. If he was the murderer, wouldn't he have been haunted sooner than this? I'm willing to bet he did something stupid recently that ended up triggering the ghost."

Ton-ton stops in its tracks. "…That makes a surprising bit of sense, why can't you be this logical with conversations!?"

"Because people scare me!"

"I swear, you have the worst taste in fears. Hey, something moved in the bathroom. Maybe it's a shit demon."

Bell claps his hands together in realization. "You know what, you're right! It's gotta be a shit demon! With how much it stays in the bathroom… yeah, it's all starting to come together!"

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING A SHIT DEMON, BRAT!" Shouts an ethereal voice.

Ton-ton shakes its head. "Bell, look what you did. This is what happens when you don't listen to your teacher's instructions. You just had to go and say it out loud…"

"_That's beside the point, looks like I screwed up big time though."_ Bell says to Ton-ton.

"Ahhh, sorry, I just had to find a way to get you to come out! I know ghosts don't really like to talk and that they prefer to stay hidden. I get it, I'm pretty anti-social myself. Say, why are you so angry?" Bell says in an apologetic voice.

Out from the bathroom floats a woman who looked to be about in her twenties when she was alive. "You would be angry too if you were just in your bathroom, putting on makeup for a date with a wonderful young man who treated you like a princess, when all of a sudden some arrogant asshole drowns you in your own toilet!"

"For the sake of agreeing with you, yeah that would be pretty annoying. But if I'm gonna be honest, I can't really relate. I like girls." Bell says while waving his hand.

"Now, in my death, I'm finally able to rest at peace. I can watch the birds when I want, see all of the beautiful men walking down the street, and I can even possess a girl when I please to have a good time out on the city. But that all changed three days ago! On the night of the full moon, when my spiritual power is the strongest and I can possess a beautiful girl, just as I was preparing myself in my home, this WRETCHED OLD MAN… comes and defecates all over my beautiful face! Naturally I lashed out, but instead of apologizing, the man simply flushed several times, stirring up the mess that was already down there. Truly, he is a horrific man that must be punished!"

Unbeknownst to the ghost, Ton-ton is currently filling Bell's mind with copious amounts of laughter. "I….I can't! I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die! I don't think I've ever met a ghost that's gotten shat on before!"

Bell, using his bluff skill to the fullest to keep a straight face, attempts to appease the ghost. "I'm terribly sorry for the inconvenience ma'am. I had no clue that such atrocities were committed! Please, allow us to perform a ceremony to make up for it. It will boost your spiritual powers, and you may very well be able to go out on your desired time this very night!"

"Wow, you did a great job pulling that one out of your ass! I don't think I've ever heard you speak that convincing before!" Ton-ton teases while snickering.

"_You're just trying to get me to screw this up now! What kind of partner are you!?"_

"Hey, Bell. Why did this lady go to the nurse's office?"

"_Don't you fucking dare."_

"Because her face was all flushed!" Ton-ton says as it bursts into laughter.

Bell, eyebrow now twitching in anguish due to having to hold a straight face, waits for the ghost's answer.

"Well… it has been a pretty horrible few days, so what the heck! Ceremony away!" She says with a smile.

Bell breathes out a sigh of relief. "Alright then, I'll get started right away."

As he says this, he reaches into his bag and pulls out a kimono and a gohei. Following this, he puts on the white and black kimono, picks up his gohei and a baggie full of various items and takes it over to the bathroom. Both Ton-ton and the ghost follow him, seeing as he lifts the toilet lid and throws one of the items into the toilet.

Soon after flushing, he waves around the Gohei and begins muttering under his breath, seemingly chanting. "Old MacDonald had a farm, E-I-E-I-O, and on that farm he had a pig…"

This goes on for several minutes, as the ghost and Ton-ton watch in awe.

"Bell, what even is your plan? You got this lady by the ropes now! She's waiting for that surge of power!"

Bell, unable to respond as he is focusing on his ritual, tosses one final item into the toilet. This time, it is a riceball. As he flushes and the rice disperses, a rune that was placed on the inside activates, and suddenly the water boils.

The spirit, suddenly screaming in pain, begins to disintegrate. "You lying son of a bi-t….."

Ton-ton, seemingly sitting in awe, scratches its ear. "Hey, I thought you were just screwing around! What the heck did you do?"

Before he can answer, Bell drops to the floor and starts rolling around on the ground, laughing uncontrollably. "W-w-where did you come up with that joke! She was all flushed! Haha!"

"I'm glad you asked! You see, I simply racked this brain of mine for any puns that had to do with toilets! Riveting, right?"

Abruptly ending his laughter, Bell jumps to his feet and picks up Ton-ton, looking it dead in the eyes. "Not at all, and I just stored a fire rune at the center of the riceball with an activate spell that reacts to water. Once the water broke it up, it ignited and burned away her tooth that was probably lodged somewhere in there."

"Her tooth!? How the hell did you figure that out!?"

"She had to be connected to something, what with her not having a solid reason for staying around, and considering her attachment to the toilet, I figured there had to be something still in there. I dunno if it was a tooth or not, it's just the thing least likely to get flushed away or decomposed in such a short time."

Ton-ton drops to the floor and begins walking away, and clears its throat. "You know, sometimes I forget you're scary smart. But job well done, partner! Looks like we can get some food tonight!"

Bell breaks into a grin and pumps his fist in the air. "Yeah!"

* * *

Bell looks distraught at the 10,000 valis in his hand. "Hey, this is half the agreed amount! What gives!?"

The old man scratches his head and looks away angrily. "I thank you for your assistance, but you broke my toilet in the process. As soon as I took that celebration dump, the toilet water splashed everywhere and now my bathroom is ruined! That 10,000 is for the exorcism, the other 10,000 is deducted because of the damages! Good day!"

On that note, Bell is left with all the money required to pay his bills, and still with not enough money to buy food.

-Chapter 4 End-

_Poor Bell, will our hero ever get the money he needs to buy food!? Find out, on the next episode of Wonderful World x Wonderful Familiar!_


	5. Chapter 5

Two days after the events at 765 Labyrinth Ave, Bell and Ton-ton are at their wits end from hunger.

"Hey, Bell… I don't think it's a good idea for me to stay out here anymore. I'm just taking up more of your energy, and running on such a low amount of mana is making me really sleepy. I'm just… gonna rest… for a bit…" Ton-ton says as it lies down on Bell's lap and dematerializes.

It's around midday on a Wednesday, and Bell is currently sitting while watching the rest of his class perform their fitness routine. Resting his head back on the stone wall, multiple thoughts run through his head.

'_I can't go on like this for much longer, I need to do something to get some money for food! But what can I do? There's no jobs, and it's not like I can just ask for food! No… this is no time to be caring about my own feelings… I'm not the only one relying on food to survive right now, if I don't get any food then Ton-ton as well… But who can I ask!?'_

Pulling at his hair, Bell lets out an exasperated sigh. "Gahhh, I don't know what to do!"

"Don't know what to do about what?" says a voice to his right.

Bell looks over, to be met with a pair of golden eyes just inches from his own.

"HOLY SHIT!?" He screams as he flings himself back, punching Ais in the face while doing so.

She lets out a squeak, quickly recovering from the blow, but holding her nose. "Okay, to be fair, I probably deserved that. But still, owww!" She says as she keels over.

"Oh my god! I'm so sorry, are you okay!?" Bell says as he rushes to her aid.

Still keeled over, Ais holds out her hand, now covered in blood. "I'm fine, just a bloody nose, it's not broken. Just need some healing magic real quick. Aria!"

Coming over soon after, Aria has a concerned expression on her face when she sees Ais. "What happened!?" Almost immediately she removes Ais' hands from her nose and begins healing.

"I… um… might've snuck up on Bell and he got spooked. He looked so peaceful and I really wanted to get a nice picture, but then he said something and I said something and now I have a bloody nose."

"Come on, Ais, you need to be more tactful! You can't just invade people's personal space like that and expect to get out unscathed! Just look at what happens when you try to get pictures of Bete!"

"Uh, is there anything I can do to help?" Bell says, now aware of his situation and growing more uncomfortable by the second.

'_Please say no, please say no. I want an excuse to leave now.'_ He thinks to himself

"Actually yes, can you wipe the blood off her face, it's making it hard to see if its healed yet." Aria says as she hands Bell a white cloth.

His face immediately contorts into a grimace, and he silently grabs the cloth and begins wiping her face.

'_Why me, why me, why me, why me! I don't care what anyone says! No amount of cuteness can ease this situation!'_

After Bell wipes her face off, Aria takes a closer look and tilts Ais' head back to see if it's done healing. "Alright, looks like you're good to go. I'm gonna head back to the workout, try not to get in anymore trouble!"

"Okay!" Ais says confidently, but not before pulling out her camera and snapping a shot of Aria's butt as she runs away. "That was a golden shot! Nice job, Bell!" She says as she sticks out a thumbs up.

"No, don't bring me into this. Anyway, nice talking to you, bye!" He says as he gets up to walk away, only to be stopped by Ais' hand grabbing his wrist.

Almost immediately, Bell's face gets entirely red and he falls backward, seemingly dazed.

"Ah! Bell! Did I do something wrong!? Oh man, what do I do? I didn't think he'd be so weak to get knocked out from a fall like that!" Ais says as she begins to panic, looking around for something obscure.

'_I'm gonna die, this is how I die! What do you want with me!?_'

Bell tries his best to formulate a sentence, knowing he can't escape this situation without getting some answers. "A-A-Ais, w-w-what do y-you w-want?"

"Ah! You're still awake! Thank goodness. Also the red on your face is a good look for you! I give it an S-class ranking!" She says with a thumbs up.

Relating that statement to Ton-ton's usually sarcastic quips, Bell temporarily regains his composure to speak confidently and sits up. "That's beside the point! Why are you pestering me so much right now!"

The word pestering going right over her head, Ais answers bluntly. "Well I wanted to see if you want to go into the Dothraki Dungeon with me and Bete today. I also wanted Aria to come along but she said she was busy. What do you say?"

Thrown back into his embarrassment, Bell is about to outright refuse. However, this may very well be his chance. "U-um, sure. But I gotta ask you something."

"What is it?" She says.

Bell's throat feels dry, and he can feel his face starting to heat up and he starts to feel dizzy. _'Come on Bell, you can do it. You NEED to do it! Just think about it, think about having some solid food in your stomach!'_

He takes a deep swallow and licks his lips. "I have this skill that doesn't let me get magic stone drops. Could I ask you to land the killing blows on any monsters I take down?"

Upon saying this, he exhales a deep breath and falls back onto the stone wall.

"Sure, but that's a pretty wacky condition! Makes me wonder how you're able to make money!" She says with a thumbs up.

'_There was no reason why you should've given me a thumbs up! If I wasn't going through trauma right now I'd yell at you!'_ Bell thinks to himself, but sighs regardless. _'I just have to make it through today, then I can finally get some food. Still, I'm gonna have to go bare-handed since Ton-ton is down for the count.'_

Bell looks over to Ais, then looks away and closes his eyes to try and imagine he's just talking to himself. "Looks like we have ourselves a party then."

"Whoa, that's the coolest thing I've heard you say!" Ais says as she gives a small smile.

Bell feels a nerve pop and he grits his teeth as a tear streams down his face. _'That cut way deeper than you know!'_

"Well, I'll see you after school then Bell. Also how cute! You're crying! This is going into my special binder!" She says as she gets up and takes a picture, soon after leaving Bell to sulk in his embarrassment.

* * *

Bell, having left class early to wait outside the Dothraki Dungeon, is currently thinking out his game plan for what to do in the dungeon. _'Most of the enemies in this dungeon are beast types, meaning they're probably the worst possible matchup for hand-to-hand combat. Kicks would probably be best for finishing an enemy, but the goal is to not kill them and just wound them to make them an easy target for Ais. Man, this would be a lot easier if I just had Ton-ton, because then I coul-'_

Just before he could finish that thought, Bell is hit in the face with a sandwich. Shocked but utterly intrigued, he looks up to see who threw it, only to see Bete and Ais standing there.

"Heard the situation from Ais, and noticed ya sat out of gym today because ya felt sick. Pretty obvious ya haven't eaten. I don't want ya bein dead weight, eat up and let's get this party started" Bete says with a grin.

All Bell can think about is how lucky he is to have accepted the invitation.

-Chapter 5 End-

_Short chapter, but It's only because I want to keep things separated in an orderly manner. There's a decent bit I want to go over next chapter that should be given its own chapter, but this one was too long to be slapped on the previous one, so sorry for the shortness :P. In other news, it's time to pull up Bell's surprise party members' stat sheets! Also just as a disclaimer, Charisma is one of the special, non-exp related stats and as such it has a lower value. 0, where Bell is at is considered absolutely hopeless in social situations. 200 is considered an average introvert who can handle conversations but tends to avoid them. 500 is more or less the average person, with 700 being an average extrovert. At 800 and higher, people are said to be very confident in their social skills and don't get embarrassed easily, and at 1000 or higher, people are said to be able to start influencing others. It's said there was a man who once had above 1800 charisma and managed to bluff his way into forcing an entire business into thinking he was the CEO for a full week, and was only thwarted when someone who knew the CEO showed up. _

**Status**

Name: Bete Loga

Race: Werewolf

Affinity: Earth

Level: 58

XP: 49,846/116,000

Magic Conductivity: 6045

Strength: 8543

Health: 10562

Mana: 20498

Stamina: 9453

Agility: 10342

Defense: 7216

Charisma: 684

Willpower: 9643

**Skills**

Werewolf Transformation

Partial Transformation

Animal Speaking

Enhanced Senses

* * *

**Status**

Name: Ais Wallenstein

Race: Human

Affinity: Wind

Level 64

XP: 118,693/128,000

Magic Conductivity: 7106

Strength: 7425

Health: 11630

Mana: 25875

Stamina: 6321

Agility: 14832

Defense: 6211

Charisma: 394

Willpower: 14562

**Skills**

Blessing of the Wind

Sword Mastery

Steel Mind


	6. Chapter 6

_Deep in the Dothraki Dungeon…_

"How much further we goin? I'm itchin for a fight, don't tell me ya got cold feet?" Bete says with a sneer.

"Just a bit further, I figured we can take on a hotspot with these numbers." Bell says confidently.

Taken aback by the lack of stuttering, Bete drops his sneer and cocks an eyebrow instead, leaning close to Ais. "Hey, does he seem a bit different?"

"If you mean the slight change in his smell, it's because of the humidity. It's making him sweat a little bit."

"Don't know why I asked ya…" Bete says with a disgusted look.

As they approach a cave opening, Bell holds up a hand to stop the party. "Over there, that's where we're fighting. It's around the heart of the dungeon, but a floor below the boss room. Due to the similar concentration of magical energy and the fact only one boss can spawn, the only thing that can be done is a large influx of monsters. Unfortunately, the only monsters here are Feral Werewolves."

As Bell says this, he looks at Bete with an expecting yet apologetic look. Bete folds his arms and turns to look at Ais as well, only for her to look away and whistle, obviously trying to mask the fact she had the same look a few moments before. Unlike Bete, the werewolves in the dungeon look more akin to actual wolves rather than humans.

Bete takes a deep breath, crouches onto the ground and tenses his muscles. "You guys are fuckin pricks".

Jumping headfirst into battle, Bete crushes the floor beneath him in a mighty display of strength, striking into the stomach of a Feral Werewolf, killing it instantly. With the blow alerting the other Werewolves of his presence, he holds nothing back and howls at the top of his lungs, causing the magic in the air to distort. The Werewolves immediately begin to snarl and look at Bete with extraordinary bloodlust. The majority of them spring from their positions and charge at Bete recklessly, to which he greets them with either a kick or a punch. Each blow causing devastating damage, he is truly a force to be reckoned with.

Bell cracks his neck and narrows his eyes, a grin forming on his face. "Looks like we got ourselves a tank. Support Bete the best you can, I'm going to go in and break a leg."

Breaking into a full sprint, Bell runs to the side of the room, aiming to ambush some of the stragglers that didn't swarm to Bete. Not noticing his presence immediately, a Werewolf is met with surprise as Bell comes in from behind, performing a precise punch to its spinal cord.

Ais, heeding Bell's request, summons her wind magic and draws her rapier. Performing a quick succession of thrusts, she shoots wind bullets at several enemies attempting to make their way into Bete's blind spot, even going so far as to headshot the Werewolf Bell had just paralyzed.

With Bete as the anchor, Ais as the support, and Bell as the vanguard, the flow of battle begins to flow smoother. As each Werewolf falls, another breaks through an opening in the wall, eager to sink its fangs into one of the adventurers. Knowing full well this would happen, Bell has been making his way around the entire room, placing a simple rooting trap magic in various locations he visited.

'_With how little magic I have, this is a stupidly inefficient usage of it. But at least I'll be able to get a lot of kills this way! Three course meal, here I come!'_ Bell thinks to himself happily.

Bete, while taking a moment to observe the condition of his companions, notices Bell's grin and mistakes it for one of battle fever. "Haha! That's the way, Bell! Ya lookin like a real man right now!"

Ais, having not paid attention to Bell at all due to her focusing on the battle, is snapped from her concentration due to Bete's comment. She immediately looks to Bell, stabbing her sword into the ground and pulling out her camera, ready to take a picture of Bell covered in the blood of his enemies.

"This is going to make such a wonderful shot!" She says with drool coming from her mouth and a light blush on her cheeks.

Not expecting Ais to take a break from her support, Bell is met with a surprise Werewolf coming from behind, ready to bite into his neck. Instinctually feeling its bloodlust, Bell performs a roundhouse kick to its skull, killing it instantly. This small action briefly breaks his concentration on the magic traps, causing them all to haphazardly overload with mana. Each Werewolf in the trap magic is suddenly crushed to death by the increase in intensity to the trap, making that one mistake cost Bell 20 Werewolves worth of magic stones. Along with this, his magic supply was also nearly depleted.

Feeling his face heat up in anger, Bell tries to scold Ais, however he is soon met with six more Werewolves hungry for his blood.

'_Looks like I'll have to overuse Dark Transferal again. Wonderful.'_ Bell thinks to himself as he takes a deep breath. Suddenly overwhelmed with pain, Bell's blood begins to boil as he feels his mana replenish almost instantaneously. Using his regained mana, he strengthens his legs and stomps the ground, breaking the floor beneath him and the Werewolves, sending them into the air. He uses this opportunity to grab rocks at his feet and throw them at each of the Werewolves' spines, paralyzing all of them. Taking a quick look back at Ais with a frown, he notices that she is still vigorously snapping photos of him at a safe distance.

"Will it kill you to help out a little bit!?" He yells out in anger.

"I'm sorry Bell! But these shots are just too good to pass up! I'll kill those Werewolves in just a second, just give me a smile and a peace sign!" Ais says, breathing heavily as she continues to snap photos.

Wanting to get the battle back on track, he hesitantly does as she asks, giving a forced smile and a peace sign, while crushing a rock with his other hand in anger. Satisfied with her pictures, Ais picks her sword back up with a smile on her face, and once again shoots wind bullets at the immobile enemies.

From the center of the room, Bete's laughing can be heard along with the sound of breaking bones. "C'mon! Is that all ya got!? Hey Bell, this is a really great location ya found! Think I might hafta keep comin here till I hit level 60!" After tearing a Werewolf in half and throwing either end at oncoming Werewolves, Bete lifts his foot into the air, and magic begins to radiate around it. Crashing it back down into the ground, the magic disperses and rock spikes shoot up from the ground, impaling the remaining Werewolves surrounding him. One managed to escape certain demise, however he remedies this mistake by breaking off the tip of one of the spikes and throwing it at the Werewolf.

"Looks like that's the last of them for now. It'll be another fifteen minutes before they respawn. Time for a break!" Bell says with a sigh.

Walking over to the entrance where Ais is, Bell is met with a strong pat on the back from Bete, who has a shit-eating grin plastered on his face. "Man, I'm glad I was able to let loose like that! I was feelin pretty mad about earlier."

"You both did wonderfully! Next time, I'll make sure to get shots of you too, Bete!" Ais says with a thumbs up.

Bell swallows and sighs again. _'Ah, Ton-ton, how I wish you could be with me right now! I'm starting to feel a little lightheaded with all this socializing!'_

"But man, I was not expecting that from ya, Bell! You're only level 49, right? Those Werewolves are something like level 56. They got a pretty big advantage over ya. Not to mention how much trap magic ya were usin. Could've sworn I only felt a small amount of mana comin from ya. Come to think of it, that mana doesn't seem to have gone down at all!" Bete says with a hearty laugh.

'_Oh, it went down all right. I just had to sacrifice some of my blood to recover it.'_ Bell thinks with a frown.

Playing off the frown as taking offence to his small mana pool, Bell attempts to change the subject. "Well, geeze, you didn't have to say it to my face. Yeah, I have basically no mana. I just have a lot of Magic Conductivity to make up for it. Don't need to use a lot of mana if the quality of it is strong!"

'_Well, that's a half-truth at least. Even though Dark Transferal isn't a banned magic, it's kinda… well dark. Don't want people coming in telling me I shouldn't be using it.'_ Bell thinks to himself.

"Huh, well no shit! Guess I underestimated ya! Still, didn't ya have a cat that you carried around? Where'd that lil bugger run off to?" Bete says while scratching behind his ears.

"Ah… well, Ton-ton is currently resting in my soul for a bit until I can get more energy. To be honest I'm barely keeping up with you guys right now!" Bell says with a sheepish grin.

Ais and Bell take a seat along the wall at the entrance of the room, while Bete opts to lean against the wall opposite them. Not long after, Ais leans forward awfully close to Bell, seemingly looking into his eyes. Bell's face immediately flushes red, and he begins stuttering.

"U-um, A-Ais yo-you're leaning like you w-wanna k-kiss me!" Bell says as he puts his hands up to try and make space.

'_Idiot idiot idiot! Shut your mouth right now! You're gonna say something stupid again!'_ Bell screams to himself.

Paying no heed to Bell's usual embarrassing outburst, Ais begins to frown as she looks harder into Bell's eyes. "I'm trying to see Ton-ton. They say the eyes connect to the soul, right? I want to know what gender Ton-ton is."

"Huh? Why would you want to know that?"

"I have a friend who I've been telling about you. He's writing me a fanfiction about you at the moment."

Bell begins gasping for air as he let out all his breath in one strong wheeze upon hearing this. "Ais, you have GOT to stop fantasizing about me!"

"Alright, I'm about up to ma neck in this lovey dovey bullshit. What's the cat's gender, Bell? I have an ongoing problem with dudes, they always tryna pick a fight." Bete says as he dramatically rolls his eyes and waves his arms.

"I don't think you'll have any issues with Ton-ton. But he's a guy… I guess? He is a spirit after all. But… how can I put it… he's kinda human in the basic sense. Doesn't really get the same territorial urges that other animals do." Bell says thoughtfully. "Besides, why do you care if a cat tries to attack you?"

An embarrassed blush forms on Bete's face and he looks away, scratching his ear vigorously. "Ah… well…I'm afraid of cats… and territorial ones give me the worst time." He says while laughing nervously.

As expected, Ais pulls out her camera and takes a quick snap of Bete, humming to herself softly. "Are we going to take on the boss upstairs? Or are we just going to kill Bete's family all day."

"I swear, ya have no damn tact!" Bete yells, thoroughly enraged. "Don't lump me together with those weaklings!"

Ton-ton, hearing everything that had been exchanged for the past day, finally decides to make his appearance as he forcefully appears from Bell's soul, right onto Bete's shoulder.

"Fu-fu, says the Werewolf who is scared of some teensy cats! Boo!" He says with a mischievous grin.

Bete, unable to hear a single word Ton-ton is saying, simply views the grin as a vicious snarl, and yelps in surprise as he punches at Ton-ton while falling onto his back. Expecting this, Ton-ton already teleported back onto Bell's shoulder and is now cleaning himself.

"Dammit, BELL! Thought ya said ya didn't have the energy to summon that thing!" Bete screams in terror.

Picking up Ton-ton by the scruff of his neck, Bell looks him dead in the eyes with a scowl. "I don't, right, Ton-ton?"

Sweating profusely, Ton-ton laughs sheepishly and begins to fade once more. "C'mon, that guy was just asking for it!"

Bell raises two fingers to his own eyes, points them to Ton-ton, then points them back at himself.

With a final salute, Ton-ton disappears into a black mist and the three are alone once more, Ais turned away, sobbing silently and muttering to herself. "I just wanted to pet the kitty, but he just ignored me…"

Sighing and clapping his hands together, Bell re-motivates himself and gets back into a productive mindset. "Well, I already collected enough magic stones to feed me for a week, and I am thoroughly tired already. What do you say we get going, I don't think I can stand another second without some food in my stomach!"

Bete and Ais simply shake their heads. "Nah, ya go on ahead. We planned on fighting for a lot longer than this, ya wimp".

Ais nods in agreement. "Thanks for coming along, Bell. I got some really nice shots too! Join us again sometime."

Bell gives them a smile and turns around, already beginning to walk away. "Thanks for having me! You guys are seriously life savers!"

Not long after, Bell can hear the clash of battle once again.

"Say, Ton-ton, it's just a straight shot out of the dungeon from here, right?" Bell says out loud, summoning Ton-ton in the process.

Confused, Ton-ton nods while looking up at Bell from his shoulder. "Didn't you just tell them you're too tired to summon me?"

Bell shrugs. "Well, I am. I didn't have reason to use you, to be quite honest. It would've been a waste of my energy, since I was just restraining the monsters rather than outright killing them. Besides, I replenished some magic energy, remember? I'm good to use it one more time before I feel like throwing up, so may as well get some use out of it while we're on our way out. I'm pretty far behind the others in levels."

"Oh yeah, speaking of which when are you gonna research my evolution?"

Bell cracks his knuckles and does a few stretches, breathing deeply. He quickly casts a few enchantments onto his satchel, muttering what sounded like 'auto collect'. "Just as soon as we're not starving to death, Hecatoncheires."

On saying his name, Hecatoncheires transforms into a black longsword with a inlaid red jewel at the center. Bell exhales deeply and concentrates a large amount of magic into his legs, and he leaps through the dungeon at a fast pace. Stray dire wolves and blood rabbits litter the corridors of the dungeon, and as Bell passes through he cuts them to pieces in moments. Kicking off the walls and navigating with ease, he looks almost like a beast.

Seeing a hole in the roof, Bell leaps high and flips mid air, planting his feet along a stalactite on the roof of the second floor of the dungeon. Kicking off with great force, he lunges at a group of werewolves in front of him, with the boss a few meters past them. Using Hecatoncheires, he summons black chains from the ground that wrap themselves around the surrounding monsters. Soon after, Bell uses magic to ignite the chains in blue flames, searing the werewolves in seconds.

The boss is a rather large werewolf with black fur and yellow eyes, standing at around 6 meters tall. It has leather armor over various portions of its body and a large cleaver. Bell, undaunted, uses his previous jump to stab directly into the boss' heart. Not letting up for a second, he uses Hecatoncheires to summon a black greatsword this time. Using his longsword as support, he swings himself into the air and rotates, coating his greatsword in blue fire. Like a knife through butter, Bell easily removes the boss' head, the flames searing the wound closed near instantaneously. The boss quickly vanishes into a puff of black smoke. Similarly, every metal object Bell summoned in the past few minutes vanishes in a puff of black smoke, however he resummons the longsword into his hand.

"Now that we got that little boost of experience, let's head out!" Bell says with a smile.

* * *

Outside the Dothraki Dungeon, Bell falls to his knees and pants heavily. "No more… I need food! Let's see if we managed to get lucky… holy shit we did!" Bell says with a grin.

Inside his bag, it appears that from the monsters he killed, he got four drops. However, it seems all of them are just werewolf claws. Despite the fact he didn't get a drop from the boss, this makes Bell feel extraordinarily happy. "Each claw is worth around 24,000 valis each! With this, and with the magic stones Ais helped us with… success!"

With an excited laugh, Bell pumps his fist into the air and his fatigue seemingly vanishes, and he begins jogging towards the city.

-Chapter 6 End-

_Next up, we get to have a heartwarming episode where Bell can finally get the food he so deserves! Now that our heroes no longer have to worry about making ends meet for even a little while, I wonder whats in store for them next? Stay tuned!_

_On a side note, I try to update asap if I can, however the amount of time I have for writing is unfortunately not very consistent. There will be days where a lot of chapters come out in quick succession, and others where it will come out relatively slowly. Regardless, hope you enjoy and on to the next chapter!_


	7. Notice

Hey there, unfortunately this is not a new chapter but some rather bad news. So just last night I received some lovely news that will entirely change my schedule from this day forward for the worse, meaning I will have basically no time to myself to write new chapters. I don't plan on putting it on hiatus just yet, but keep in mind it could very well be a long wait in-between each chapter. Hope you guys understand and hopefully Ton-ton doesn't kill me in my sleep for being so busy as to not give him anymore screentime!


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